Light Up The Dark
by Eloyn
Summary: In a darker Konoha where slavery and war is a part of people's day-to-day life, a seven year old Karin is sold to the Uchiha family as a slave. Traumatised but alive, the girl finds a friend in Sasuke. But how will things change when Sasuke's whole family is murdered by Itachi? Dark. Follows canon. Sasu/Karin


Declaimer: I don't own anything, and I am not making any money out of this.

Author's notes: I write this story because I, contrary to popular opinion, actually sympathise with Karin's character. It is clear to me that a lot of her past has been left unsaid. However, we know she experience the same trauma as Sasuke in that her whole village was slaughtered. We also know Orochimaru experimented on her. We have also seen Orochimaru's approach to Kabuto and other children; it is easy to see how he would be able to take advantage of Karin. In this story, I make the destruction of Karin's village happen at an earlier point. The darkness of Konoha is more prominent in this story, in that they take war prisoners as slaves, and kill the rest.

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Chapter 1

Seven year old Karin looked out through the bars of the carriage they were being transported in. They were war prisoners from the hidden Mist, soon to be sold as slaves to some of Konoha's wealthiest families. The cuffs around her ankles were far too tight, and they had not had anything to eat or drink since the previous night. She had also gotten a rather hard knock to her head when she resisted one of the guards earlier. Simply said, she was feeling rather horrible.

The people around her sat huddled together in close groups. Probably for emotional support, because the weather was actually rather nice. These people was what was left of her village. The others had been killed during Konoha's invasion of the hidden Mist a few days earlier. Apparently Konoha wanted control of their village for strategic purposes in the ongoing war, whatever that meant. As a result of this, Karin's whole family had been murdered, while she got her arms tied behind her back and thrown in to an open carriage. She closed her eyes, and forced herself to stop thinking of her younger brother's terrified eyes as the Konoha shinobi cut his head off. He had been too young to be used as work force. The ones not brought back as slaves were simply killed, children and old alike.

Karin pulled her knees closer to her body as they neared what appeared to be the gates of Konoha. A few years earlier, their villages had a peace treaty, and she had been here with her father on a diplomatic mission. She could only remember the gates from that time, and that she been friends with one of the dark haired boys from the village. She could not remember his name, but she wondered if he still lived here. The carriages continued in through the gates and towards an open square in front of an oval building. She could see the faces on the mountain above the village, and remembered her father telling here that they were the faces of this village's previous leaders. Karin wonders which one of them it was that started the tradition of bringing war prisoners to the village as slaves.

The carriages stopped in the middle of the open square, and the guards came around to open the door and told them to get out. When one guard grabbed a young girl about her age, an older woman started screaming and dragging the child further in to the carriage. The guard answered by throwing a kunai at her head, and hitting her between the eyes. The child screamed, and Karin could only stare as blood started pouring from the wound in her forehead. The woman's body fell limp to the floor. The guard screamed that they would be next if they were not out of the carriage and standing in a straight line in less than twenty seconds. Only ten seconds went by before they all were standing perfectly in line one after another. An older woman had brought the child with her, the child kept screaming for her mother, but the older woman had a firm grip on her arm, keeping her in place. "It won't help" Karin thought. Screaming never helped. It only seemed to make them want to hurt you more.

The inhabitants of Konoha started to gather in the open square. It was normal for them to greet their returning shinobi, and to buy the spoil of war when they returned home. They were happy that the mission had gone well, and that they finally might get the upper hand in this war. Slavery was a part of everyday life in Konoha, and it was no different to buy a war prisoner from a foreign village than it was to buy a lamp. One after another, the prisoners were brought up on a small wooden stage to be sold as slaves. Karin was too overwhelmed to comprehend what was happening to her. She followed numbly after the person in front of her as they moved. When she was next in line, she responded too slowly, continuing to stand in a daze instead of walking up on the stage as they told her to. A woman with a green vest hit her with the back of her hand, before throwing her up on to the stage.

"Beautiful young girl" said the auctioneer. "Although she does seem a little slow…" The crowd laughed. "But she is healthy! She will be able to help with any household chores for years to come!"

Karin's mind were in shambles as one after another threw in a bid for her. After a few rounds, the auctioneer finally exclaimed "Sold! To Uchiha Fugaku!" Karin stood frozen as a grown man came up to take her away. She turned and looked around to try to find someone that would help her, but the people from her village were just standing there terrified, and the people of Konoha was watching with mild interest, as if this was nothing new. Karin took a few steps to start running, but before she could take more than two steps she felt a sharp pain in the back of her head, followed by nothing but darkness.

"Did you really have to knock her out Fugaku? Look at her, she is still so young."

Karin woke to the voice of a woman. Her head hurt, and everything was spinning.

"She was trying to run; it was the fastest way to get her here without a fuss."

Karin slowly opened her eyes to see the worried face of a woman over her. The man from earlier was standing by the door.

"Where am I?" Karin said weakly.

"Hi Karin" the woman said, smiling warmly at her. "You probably don't remember me. I am Mikoto, and this is my husband Fugaku. You came to visit us with your father a few years ago. I am sorry about what happened to your village and your parents. You are going to be staying with us now." The woman smiled, but then looked sad and started talking in a soft voice. "As I am sure you have already understood Konoha has very strict rules about war prisoners and their treatment. In short, they are often treated very badly. I am afraid that according to the laws here you will be what they call a slave. A property of the family who bought you. But don't worry, we will treat you well. You just have to help take care of the family through household work. That won't be so bad, right?" She patted Karin on the arm and gave her a reassuring smile.

Karin could vaguely remember this woman from the visit with her father. She seemed nice. She reminded her of her mother. The thought of her mother registered, and finally, the reaction to all the things she had seen and experienced in the last couple of days set in. She felt tears starting to pour down her face, and once she had started crying, she couldn't stop. She wailed while Mikoto gathered her in her arms and patted her on the back. From the doorway, the man who had bought her signed heavily, before he turned and left the room. The kind looking woman held her until she had no tears left to cry.

Karin's head hurt. Her whole family was dead, and now she was the slave of this family? Although the woman seemed kind, the man was impatient with her crying.

"Are you feeling better?" asked the woman.

"A little bit" answered Karin and sniffed wile wiping her eyes.

"Ok will explain a bit more of your life here from now on. This will be your room. You are expected to get up at the same time we do, don't worry, I will come in to wake you for the first couple of days. You will help with preparing food for my sons and husband, then any other household chores that needs to be done. You will leave the house only accompanied by someone from our family. This is for your own safety, as anyone are allowed to punish a slave, even if it's not theirs. People here are very suspicious of anyone not from the village, so even if you are a child you have to be careful, ok?"

"Ok..." sniffed Karin.

"That's good. I think you will do fine. Now, do you want to come to say hello to the rest of my family?"

"Ok" answered Karin. She was no fool, she knew that she was a slave and that these people were her masters. Even if the woman seemed sincere, she would do best to do as she was told.

She followed the woman out in to the hallway. Her head was pounding from getting hit and crying so much. They walked in to a living room, where the man from before and two boys were sitting having tea. One of the boys was much older than her, but the other one seemed to be around her age. There was something familiar about him, and Karin thought he might be the boy she had met during her previous visit to Konoha. The one that had been her friend for a short time.

"Sasuke, Itachi, this is Karin. She if one of the war prisoners who arrived here today. She will be staying here from now on. Karin, these are my sons Sasuke and Itachi, and my husband Fugaku."

The younger boy stared at her with big dark eyes, while the older one just gave her an uninterested glance and a small not of his head.

"Pleased to meet you" Said Karin and bowed before them. Her eyes were still puffy from crying, and it was clear that she wished to be anywhere but where she was at this moment. She kept her eyes on the floor, not wanting to meet their eyes.

The younger boy was giving her a curious stare. "Is she a slave?" He asked his father. "Yes" answered Fugaku. "Then why isn't she wearing the slave cuffs?" Asked the boy. "Because I haven't gotten around to putting them on her yet." Answered the father.

"Will that really be necessary?" Asked Mikoto.

"You know the rules" answered the husband. "Come here child."

Karin took uncertain steps towards the men. The man pulled out two cuffs with a chain in between them. When she stopped before them, he reached out and placed one around each of Karin's ankles.

"These will tell anyone who sees you that you are ours, and not to seriously harm you" He said, and locked them with a key. Now Karin had her feet connected by a small chain. She could walk in them, but running would be a challenge. The cuffs were black, with a small red and white fan on each of them.

Karin felt her heart sink as she looked at them. It was all too real now. She was never going home again. She clenched her hands to fists, but refused to cry anymore in front of these people. The boy continued to stare at her.

"Can I play with her dad?" He asked and looked at his father hopefully. The father signed before he said "I don't care what you do inside the house, but you are not to bring her outside without permission. Remember that she is a slave, and you are not. If you can do that, I see no harm in you playing with her. But shouldn't you be training on that fireball technique of yours, instead of spending your time playing with slaves?" The boy had first looked hopeful, before he at the end of his father's speech looked both sad and ashamed.

"It would be easier if you or nii-san was there to help me from time to time" he mumbled, red in the cheeks. The older brother gave a low chuckle and playfully pushed his brothers arm. "I can help you tomorrow Sasuke." He said. The younger boy lit up instantly, before giving his brother a big hug, exclaiming "You are the best nii-san!" Fugaku gave an annoyed sign, while Mikoto smiled at her children. Karin wondered if it would be impolite to leave the room, and if she could possible do it un-noticed.

"Since Itachi is helping you tomorrow Sasuke, you can play with Karin today. But I will follow Karin back to her room now so she will get cleaned up first. In the meantime, you should go and do your homework." The boy quickly left to get his homework. He seemed exited to get a new friend. Karin just wanted to go to sleep and never wake up. Why would she have to entertain this boy? He was cute, but she was too depressed to want to spend any time with anyone. Mikoto showed her the bathroom. She told her that she could take all the time she needed clean up, and then rest in her room afterwards. Sasuke wouldn't bother her until he was done with his homework. Karin was grateful for the time she got alone in the bathroom. She broke down crying, and was thankful that no one was there to see her this time. She thought about her mother and her father, her brother and all her friends in the academy. And her village. The beautiful village was destroyed and gone forever. She cried for having lost her loved ones, and she cried for herself, for her lost future and stolen childhood.


End file.
